Until It's Gone
by kbbandgirl
Summary: Reever has always been the linchpin of HQ, but then he becomes the head of the Oceania branch. How can they survive without him? Just how will Komui convince him to come back? KomuixReever
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Why am I starting something new instead of updating another story? Seriously, can someone find my muse and give her some Ritalin? Contains major amounts of angst, very minor spoilers, and an alternate timeline (it takes place about a month after the move). I wanted to diversify my KomuixReever portfolio a little and experiment with different genres.

Disclaimer: I don't own DGM… if I did well… you've seen what I write.

Reever was leaving him. That was the only thing Komui could think of when he heard the decision.

After the death of the previous head of the Oceania Branch, the blonde had been offered the position. And he had accepted.

No one had asked Komui for his opinion. They hadn't needed to. Reever was perfect for the job, he was responsible, goal oriented and a fantastic leader.

And just like that his Reever would be gone. Well that wasn't entirely true because Reever had never been his. And not for lack of trying, he'd been trying to win the blonde's heart over ever since he first saw him. The attempts had been numerous and spread out over the six long years that they had known each other but all had ended in failure. At first he had thought that Reever was unaware of his intentions, naive even, but over time he'd begun to suspect that Reever just feigned ignorance of his feelings as a humane form of rejection.

Xxxx

Reever, for his part, was having a hard time reconciling himself to his new role. It hadn't seemed real until he had started packing. He hoped that the others would be okay without him but he was sure that they would be. They'd be perfectly fine, and for some reason it made him a little sad.

There hadn't been much in his room, he never used it anyway so everything was still in boxes from the last move. His desk was much more difficult. He felt guilty redistributing his work to the others but he didn't have a choice, he had finished everything twice already and more work just came in.

He went through his drawers one last time, feeling like he was forgetting something. Then he remember the secret compartment on the underside of his desk. He'd found it years ago when he'd been taking cover from one of Komui's early experiments. He reached down, open the latch, an removed a paper wrapped parcel. He slipped the package into his coat.

All he had left to do was say goodbye.

A/N: Yes the package is a Chekov's gun. Um, the beginning of Joe , George and my's interview (the one awarded to the winner of that contest) will make up the next chapter and the chapters will alternate between story and interview until this thing gets done.

Reviews are made of love and we're accepting questions (anonymous ones are fine).


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: This is the first part of the interview-y thing promised to the first lace contest winner. We don't really have any questions yet so we just decided to take turns and be random. And they were mean and made me transcribe it.

George: Kelsey's going to cosplay Undertaker from Kuroshitsuji/ Black Butler. She ordered her wig today and she was bored. So she grabbed the extremely long Sephiroth wig that she cutting for a really tall friend of ours. She also put on the Undertaker hat (which she's already finished), the boots and pants. She also kidnapped one of Joe's black dress shirts (which is several sizes too big and a foot to long) and she used a gray sheet as a temporary sash. She also put on the epical long black fake nails.

Anyway, she was running around the house "menacing" us (to our great amusement) and just generally being adorably creepy. Then Joe came along and scooped her up, bridal style, "Aw! I caught a cute little chibi!"

She made a disgruntled, pouty face, "Not a chibi!"

"You're teeny tiny and the shirt goes way past your hands. That's chibi."

She gave him a creepy stare, moved her face in close to his, and poked him in the cheek with one of her (super long) nails.

He set her down and she kept being mildly creeptacular. Then Joe put on her Grell wig and chased her around the house with a (toy) chainsaw… until she came and cuddled on the couch with me and the three of us watched a movie (one of the new BBC masterpiece theater Sherlock ones, I highly recommend them (I think Americans can see them on PBS' website…)).

(Kelsey: Yeah, and there are a lot of yaoi references….)

Xxxx

Joe: My George is sooooo adorable! He looks like Canada (from Hetalia) and Reever. And if he Reever and I'm Komui that makes Kelsey Lenalee (but don't say so to her face). Well, we also have this theory that she's Komui and Reever's child from the past/ future since she's a blend of our/ their personalities… Hmm what was I going to talk about? Oh yeah…

George and I met five years ago, but I had already had a serious crush on him. George and Kelsey had lived next to each other in Japan and been friends. She and I sent letters/e-mails to each other regularly and she talked about him a lot. And she sent pictures. High school George was sexy (almost as sexy as he is now…).

Apparently, she never told him that she'd sent them because he found them when we were moving here and was very confused… I still have them. There's one of him in his school uniform, one in a tshirt and jeans, and a shirtless one of him in swim trunks.

Xxxx

Me: I think I'll pick off where Joe left off. So five years ago, Joe got a great apartment close to school/ work and he was looking for a roommate. George was about to come over for study abroad and I knew they'd get along famously so I set them up.

They were such idiots! They both liked each other but neither said anything. They got along well enough but for a while, they didn't know what to talk about (until they discovered, with a little help, their mutual love of Star Trek).

Um, Joe was dropping all sorts of hints but George wasn't picking up on any of them, partly because of a communication/ cultural barrier and partly because Joe gives off a '"straight guy vibe," making all the dinners and other nice gestures just seem like what friends/ roommates did.

In the end (about 3 months later), Joe just came out and said something directly (to George's surprise and delight) and even then it was mainly because some other guy kept hitting on George (and generally trying to get in his pants) and Joe was really jealous and upset.

A/N: More actual fic coming soon!


	3. Chapter 3

A/N: Um, this is depressing, but the ending will be happy.

There was a huge send off dinner. Many tears were shed but on the whole it was a happy occasion. Well at least until Komui decide that he had to do something. (There may have been alcohol involved, strike that it WAS involved).

The supervisor cornered Reever and dragged him out into the hallway. "Reever don't do this, I need you."

The blonde rolled his eyes, "No you don't you're perfectly capable of doing your own work."

Komui grabbed Reever's lapels and kissed him.

Reever pulled away from him and turned away.

"Reever, I love you. Don't leave…"

"I'm sorry I've already made my decision."

Xxxx (How much would you hate me if I ended it there?)

Reever didn't return to the party, he sat in his empty room and cried. Komui must've really been desperate to try something like that just to get him to stay. He'd almost fallen for it.

He couldn't help but wonder how long Komui had known.

Over the years Reever had started to wonder if maybe his feelings weren't so one-sided. But they had to be right? After all what could Komui, His boss, possibly see in him?

But even if it had just been drunken ramblings or a (cruel) ruse to get him to stay, he'd remember the kiss. It was all he had. Maybe someday he'd be able to pretend, or even convince himself, that Komui really had felt something for him.

Xxxx

Komui felt like such an idiot. He'd been rejected again. Doing the same thing over and over and expecting different results, he was the very definition of insanity.

But this time it was worse. It wasn't like when he'd given Ree flowers or asked him to lunch, he had come right out and said it. Now he could only wait and see what the repercussions would be. Reever would either pretend noting had happened or he'd never speak to Komui again.

A/N: Next chapter Reever starts his new job! Is there anything you'd like to see?

Cuddly little plot bunnies! Free to a good home! I have over 600 story ideas and there is no way that I can do them all. So yeah, if you want some ideas let me know, honestly I have plots for every possible pairing in DGM, Kuroshitsuji, Junjo, Bleach, Xxxholic, and a few others (including some mind breaking ones). ( I'm not getting rid of anything I've said I'd write though so don't worry and I'll stick to DGM, unless it's a request). So whether you want a full plot or just a prompt or idea, drop me a line and I'll set you up with something.

Reviews equal love! (and pretty shiny things for my muse to play with!)


	4. Chapter 4

A/N: More of the interview. Um, I'm having major writer's block. I've finished the first chapter of 4 more stories, but I won't post them until I finish other stuff… as a result my muse is being a whiney bitch. Oh and finals are coming up so if I drop off the face of the earth for a few weeks (until after December 16th) I haven't died or stopped writing.

Xxxx

Thanksgiving:

Our big family holiday is American Thanksgiving day (mainly because international travel isn't nearly as insane as it is around Christmas). All of our families get together and bring friends making a grand total of over 140 people.

What's really fun is that 35 of them are cosplayers! We always get together the day before and have a cosplay party thing. It's tons of fun!

Notable highlights from this year include:

-Undertaker and Grell (both guys) making out in a corner (there was alcohol involved)

-My cousin dressing up as long-haired Allen and having her twin sons go as chibi-fied Kanda and Lavi.

-Having a non-chibi Lavi, and Kanda and a different Allen fighting over who got to sit on my (Cross') lap.

-My boyfriend cosplaying China from Hetalia, leading to the following conversation:

Sanzo (Saiyuki): "Why is your boyfriend dressed as a woman?"

Lavi: "No, China's a man, he's just trappier than Yuu!"

Sanzo: "I see…"

Tyki: "Your boyfriend is the trappiest male cosplayer of the trappiest trap that ever trapped a trap!"

China: *says thank you in Chinese*

Italy: "Pasta?"

Sanzo: "Does it bother you?... That he's really pretty I mean."

Me (dresses as Cross): "Does it bother him that I'm a guy? Well today anyways."

China: *shakes head, glomps*

Tyki: "Hey Cross, why don't you have a beard?"

Me: "So that I can switch for my Lenalee wig before I kiss China…or Komui, or Reever (Joe and George). I don't want to scar anyone for life or anything."

Kakashi: "Yeah, that's probably a good idea."

Xxx

We also play a game called "Situations" Basically you pull a card from a hat and it will have scenes on it and tell you how many people you have to pick to join you. The epic ones from this year were:

-Cross, Lavi, Allen, Kanda, Komui and Reever getting 'falling down drunk" together. It lead to Yullen and KoRee-ness and Cross and Lavi started arguing in Gaelic.

-Sanzo, William and Grell got trapped in an elevator together. (They all killed eachother)

-Kakashi, Undertaker, Sebastian, and Russia had a "creeptacular summit"

-There was a shinigami showdown between William, Grell, Undertaker, Ichigo, Yumichika, Ikkaku, Aizen, Gin, Ryuk. Rem and that shinigami from Zombie Loan

A/N: In other news my computer is dumb. When I type Yu there's a line above the u, as there should be. But apparently when it gets transferred to the internet the line disappears, making it look like I've spelled it wrong. So I'm going to switch over to spelling it as Yuu (which is more annoying than the line-way but whatever).


	5. Chapter 5

A/N: Um I remember reading somewhere that Reever went from the Oceania Branch to the Middle East Branch and then to Headquarters (I think it was in one of the Japanese character books)…. But wait, he's only 26 and he's been at headquarters for 6 years (he transferred when Lenalee was ten, the same time that Komui did. So I'm assuming that he was only at the other branches for a few months each and that he's a genius).

It was Reever's first day at the Oceania Branch… as the branch head anyway (he'd made a brief visit shortly after the announcement was made but it wasn't official yet). He hadn't been there as a scientist in years but he couldn't say that he'd missed the place, after all he hadn't been there for very long.

But somehow it was nostalgic, after all it was the place that he'd first met supervisor Komui. Of course the meeting was brief, and Komui hadn't been supervisor yet. Still it had made a pretty strong impression on him.

Xxxx

The welcome dinner was well… welcoming, and warm. It was a little awkward though. A fair number of the people who he used to work with were still there but they took it better than he'd expected. They still counted Reever as one of their own (especially since the other candidate was Peck who, although he was a good person, had no idea how their branch worked and was pretty much an outsider).

There was also the fact that Reever had grown a lot. When he'd started he'd been a quiet and diligent kid who hadn't know how to stick up for himself or deal with the (good natured) teasing of his fellow scientists. Now he could kick ass and he still had his fabulous work ethic.

In particular, Reever was reunited with Rachel. They had gone to school together and joined the Order at about the same time. They'd even been roommates for a few months. (The Oceania Branch had been remodeling and they were short on space. All personnel were asked to double up, so Rachel moved in proclaiming that she was there to protect Reever from "stalkers, perverts and creepy molesters… oh and crazy people too!") After he was transferred they had slowly lost touch with each other.

She had greeted him with a huge hug and the announcement that she was going to be his secretary. He didn't argue, he knew better.

Xxxx

As soon as the party wrapped up Reever got straight to work. Piles and piles of paperwork had built up since the death of the previous branch head and it wasn't going to do its self.

Seven hours later he felt like a bloody goddamn hypocrite. If he had to look at one more friggin asinine piece of pointless paperwork he just might scream.

He finally understood part of Komui's pain. Bureaucracy was a bitch. Before his work had been interesting: experiments, chemical formulas, chasing down the supervisor. It was true that a lot of time he'd sit and babysit Komui while forcing him to work, but he'd still had other jobs.

This, this was just bored out of his mind busy work. And it wasn't like he could take a break and go do something else because he didn't have anything else to do.

Then he remembered the parcel in his pocket. Hmmm…. Maybe a bit of depressing reminiscence would motivate him to work like hell to get over it…

A/N: I'll cover Komui and Reever's first meeting in detail later on (it might even get it's own chapter). I'm finally finished with school! (But now I'm going into cosplay crunch time for Ohayocon) Next I'm going to try to wrap up my other stories (you know the ones that only have one chapter left to go but my muse pretends they don't exist).


	6. Chapter 6

A/N: Happy New Year everyone! I'm discontinuing the interview bit for now, if I get writer's block I might end up bringing it back temporarily. This is how Joe imagines Komui and Reever's first meeting. Oh and as a random side note work is weird because they keep, jokingly, referring to me as "Dr. Lee's fiancé" (My fiancé is finishing Med. School and it's his last name, but my coworkers mean it as a DGM reference which is weird).

After opening the parcel, the first thing that Reever pulled out was a (handwritten) note from the Supervisor, the entire contents of which was:

"Reever,

Happy birthday! Come have lunch with Lenalee and me.

Komui."

Reever sighed. He still remembered that day, he had been at head quarters for almost two years (which was long enough to know that no one else got that sort of treatment, except maybe Jerry).

The three of them had sat in Komui's office together and talked about projects and Lenalee's missions, while eating amazing food. It had ended up becoming a tradition, every year after that the three (or two if Lenalee was away) of them would have lunch together on September eighth , even if they just bolted it down and got right back to work.

But the surprising and touching thing was that Reever was invited (along with Jerry,) to the private little lunch gatherings on Komui and Lenalee's birthdays, whereas everyone else had to wait until the party at dinner time.

He never had understood why he'd been included in their little family unit. It was true that Lenalee was like a little sister to him and that she was grateful that he looked after her brother, but Komui…

Well he never had been sure what the Supervisor thought about him and a good part of his time was spent giving Komui hell.

Xxxx

He set the note a side and pulled out a short but thick leather bound journal. Rachel had given it to him for Christmas one year. In the beginning, he'd used it as a planner and notebook, but it just wasn't as portable as he would have liked. Still it was handsome, so it had sat on his desk under mountains of books. Or it had until Reever had found something that needed to be written down.

Reever didn't bother opening it, he already knew what he'd find. He knew the first two real entries by heart.

The Oceania Branch had been working on a few massive robotics projects, Reever wasn't really sure of the details because it wasn't his area of expertise (and because he was wrapped up in his own work). The Asia Branch had sent over some help, which normally might have been seen as an insult on their intelligence, but since it was their top people on the subject, they let it slide.

There had been a huge fuss on the day they had arrived, but Reever had been too busy to even think of going to dinner that night.

Two days later he was carrying four huge supply boxes (the stack extended above his head) to one of the labs, when he ran headlong into someone.

Reever fell backwards with a small squeak of surprise and landed flat on his ass. The boxes had gone everywhere but he'd managed to hold onto one and it seemed the stranger had caught another. He didn't care about the supplies (it was mostly rubber tubing and metal stands anyway, nothing breakable), he was too busy craning his neck to look up at the man before him.

Wow! He was super handsome! Reever had never seen him before so he reasoned that he must be one of the visitors. Otherwise, he would have remembered him. Besides, no guy at the Oceania Branch had such long and silky black hair. Reever blushed when he realized that he was staring. "Ah! Sorry…"

The stranger just smiled, showing off a set of blindingly white teeth, "No, it's my fault. I should have watched where I was going. Here, let me help."

Without waiting for a response Komui, for that's who it was, hauled Reever to feet and returned his box before picking up the other two and making an "after you" motion.

By this point even the tips of Reever's ears were red. He was surprised to find that the man was strong and quite a bit taller than he was.

The lab that he was headed to was only a few doors away, so he let himself be helped.

Xxxx

The room was empty so he set his load down on the table and Komui followed suit.

Reever turned, "Thank you , um…"

Komui opened his mouth to introduce himself but before he got the chance, Rachel popped up and literally dragged the blonde away.

"Reever, there you are! Come on, Jones needs our assistance with an experiment!"

Later when he had a quick break, Reever sat down and wrote out the encounter. He didn't know why, it wasn't that big of a deal but somehow he felt that it was important. He was a bit disappointed that he'd never gotten the man's name but at that point he doubted he'd ever see him again. As such, he allowed himself to speculate over what he was like.

He had really only known a few things about Komui at first: that he was a scientist from the Asia Branch, that he was good at robotics, that he was tall and handsome, and that he was absent minded and kind.

A/N: Aw, 19 year old Reever! More flashbacks in the next bit as well as Komui's point of view.


	7. Chapter 7

A/N: More flashback! Um, it might get a little confusing and it ended up being much longer than I expected (which is good because things usually turn out much shorter).

Komui had been a royal mess ever since Reever had left. At first he'd done lots of work (to prove to himself that he wasn't entirely helpless), that had lasted for all of three days.

Now two weeks had passed. He did a tiny bit of work, maybe fifty sheets or so, everyday. Not a sufficient amount to keep up with what was coming in, but just enough that everyone left him well enough alone.

Somehow, it felt like no time had passed at all. In the first week after the blonde's departure he'd called out to Reever countless times, wanting to show him something or tell him what Lenalee was up to, only to realize that he wasn't there. The others just looked at him sympathetically, they did it too, but no one missed Reever nearly as much as Komui did.

He wasn't sleeping either, he kept awaking with a start swearing that he'd heard Reever's voice. But it wasn't him, it was never him. And it never would be him, Reever wasn't coming back.

They might've stayed friends, and in truth Reever had been one of his best friends, but he'd just had to ruin that with his stupid confession.

Jerry had to come down and force Komui to eat. He accepted the food graciously, knowing full well that there was a sleeping aid mixed in.

Xxxx

In his dream Komui went back in time, back to when Reever was shiny and new, to when they had first met.

He had just left the preliminary experimentation for a robotics project and his mind was spinning with possibilities, so much so that he ran right into someone. The person and their cargo tumbled to the ground. Komui caught one of the boxes on sheer impulse.

He went to apologize, only to find himself staring down at the absolute cutest (non-Lenalee) person that he had ever seen. It was love at first sight, for him anyway.

He hadn't been able to stop himself from reaching out and touching Reever to make sure that he was real. Luckily, he turned it into helping the man to his feet so that he didn't seem like a creepy weirdo/molester.

Helping the blonde carry things was natural, it was his fault and he wanted to learn more about the adorably puppy like fellow. Scientist tend to be a gossipy (and highly observant) lot. Just the cutie's name could get him all sorts of information: where he was from, his specialties, personality, even his favorite color.

But they were interrupted and when all was said and done all he had was "Reever." It was enough. At dinner he learned that the blonde was mainly a chemist and that he was a quiet but extremely diligent worker, the kind who was easy to overlook.

Naturally, when Komui got bored the next day he decided to track Reever down. Luck was on his side, Reever was in the same lab as before and he was alone.

Xxxx

Xxxx

Reever should have known that Komui was trouble from the beginning , but back then he was blissfully ignorant.

That second day Komui had showed up and, claiming that he had a break, helped Reever set up for the experiment he was working on. Reever explained his theory and Komui built upon it, leading to an intense scientific discussion. Both were suitably impressed by the other's genius. Finally Reever was summoned by his section leader and Komui want back to work glumly.

The following day Komui was back again, he had heard that they'd be going back so he had decided to up the ante. He asked Reever all sorts of questions and rambled on about anything and everything but Reever was deeply engrossed in his work and only gave one word replies.

Finally Reever had had just about enough, he didn't mind the company but the ceaseless questions were getting annoying. "Don't you have something you should be doing?"

"Like what?" Komui highly doubted that the blonde's mind was following the same line of thought as his, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

"Um, work perhaps?"

"Oh, that's boring." Komui said dismissively (inwardly pouting that it wasn't the "kissing me" he'd been hoping for)

Two seconds later he received a book to the face.

"Go do your goddamn work!"

The future supervisor gave him epic puppy dog eyes and, seeing the murderous look on Reever's face, left.

Reever hated people like that , even so, he almost wanted to apologize. But he didn't, he hadn't done anything wrong in giving the man what was already coming to him.

Xxxx

After that, Reever had only seen him twice, very briefly, in the hallways. Komui smiled at him and might have even winked (he'd been too tired to be sure) but he had only glowered in return.

Nevertheless, as soon as the Asia Branch scientists had gone home, Reever hadn't been able to resist writing the rest of the encounter down. He was fairly certain that he'd never see Komui again.

Xxxx

Reever shook himself out of it and got back to work. The past was gone. Now he had a job to do.

Oh shit, there were a few documents that he still needed HQ to send over.

He pinched the bridge of his nose with a sigh and reached for the phone.

Xxxx

Xxxx

Once again, Komui woke up with the sound of Reever's voice in his ear, but this time it seemed even more real than before.

Lenalee smiled down at him sadly and held out the phone. He took it cautiously.

"Hello?"

"Supervisor."

The phone fell out of Komui's hand but his sister caught it before it hit the floor and gave it back.

Komui swallowed hard.

"Section…" He shook his head, "Branch Head Reever, how may I help you?" He tried to sound as cheery as possible.

"Send over the damn documents!"

"Oh, errr I'd have to find them first…." Maybe if he delayed long enough the blonde would come over himself?

"Whatever. Russell knows where they are, just have him bring them over."

"Oh…."

The conversation ground to a halt, but neither wanted to hang up.

"Are you getting any work done?"

"Yep! Well okay, not really, but a little."

"Oh, err do more then." Reever hung up.

Komui was almost grateful, he'd been only seconds away from crying and begging Reever to come back.

A/N: Yay, my muse is finally behaving!

Um, I'm working on a few new fics and I'm about 3/4ths of the way through the next chapters on all my current fics!

Reviews are made of love! (and will encourage her to keep being good!)


	8. Chapter 8

A/N: Sorry for the delay, I keep getting sick. I've been writing a lot but it's hard to do lemons when I'm constantly nauseous (and no I'm not pregnant, I checked). The next chapter of "Mistakes and Lies" is pretty much finished, should I try to finish the lemon or post as is (with pre-lemon-ness) and maybe finish the lemon in the next chapter if I can?

Reever let out a shaky laugh, then buried his head in his hands and began to sob. Komui's voice…

He let himself mope for a few minutes before getting back to the task at hand.

Xxxx

Komui couldn't forget about Reever, he never had. In fact when he'd been promoted to supervisor (a year or so after they first met) he had specifically requested to make the blonde his section leader of the HQ's science department (much to the Aussie's confusion). His rationale at the time had been that it was important to have someone who would stand up to him.

The newly anointed supervisor had proudly gone to the Middle East Brach (where Reever was stationed at the time) to deliver the news himself. It was the first time that h had ever seen Reever blush.

Reever was perfect, he was adorable and he gave everyone hell. Most importantly, Lenalee absolutely loved him and he saw her as a little sister.

Komui had everything he wanted. It wasn't easy, sending people on missions never knowing if they'd return, but the four of them (including Jerry) were together.

At first he had simply studied Reever, trying to formulate the best approach, not realizing that his window for wooing the blonde was closing fast.

Sure, he batted his eyes and demanded Reever's near constant attention like a spoiled child, but that could be played off as part of his eccentricity. It was months before he stared seriously courting the Aussie.

By then it was too late. Reever had decided that his boss was only giving him flowers and asking him to dinner to try and weasel out of doing his work. After all, he reasoned, if the supervisor had really wanted to get into his pants he would've been at it from the beginning. He tried to pretend he wasn't disappointed by his boss' lack of interest.

Xxxx

The years stretched on. The two of them formed a unique sort of relationship. Komui depended on Reever to reign him in (and to some extent talk him down), because he knew the supervisor better than almost anyone else, and was a constant companion.

Reever benefited from the partnership as well, though it wasn't always easy to see how. Komui entertained him and kept him from going insane. His boss also kept him energized, even if it was often with murderous rage, and motivated him to work harder (which he supposed was better than just wasting away).

Xxxx

Komui pretty much moped around lethargically. Most of the Order just figured he was bored, but a small group saw his emotions for what they really were.

To add insult to injury he was hearing all sorts of news about what a great Branch Head Ree was, and how things were even better than before.

Xxxx

Komui wanted to die when the rumors started. Everyone was talking about how close Reever was to his personal assistant and how well they got on together. They knew a lot about each other and called each other cute little nicknames, so the general consensus was that Reever and Rachel were a couple. People kept raving about how cute they looked together, hell their names even sounded cute together.

And then Komui's fears were confirmed. He had called Reever to remind him about the meeting that the Branch Heads were having in a few days (he knew the blonde hadn't forgotten but he really wanted to hear his voice). A woman answered instead.

"Hello?"

"This is Komui. Is Reever there?"

"One second I'll get him." She set the phone down but he could hear the background noise.

"Reever darling, wake up." There was a muffled response. "You have a phone call… Supervisor Lee… yes, dear."

She picked the handset up again, "One moment please, he'll be right with you."

"O-oh."

Reever yawned out a "Thanks Rach" as he took the phone. "Hello?"

"Reever."

"Supervisor, did you need something?"

Komui flinched, Reever was so cold. "I wanted to remind you about the meeting."

"Okay. Anything else?" Reever tried to roll his eyes nonchalantly. Komui was just trying to blow off work, right? It wasn't like he missed him or anything.

"Uh, no I guess that's all, see you in a few days." The line went dead.

A/N: Until next time!

Reviews are made of love, medicine and lemon writing potential! (and make me happy)


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: So I've finished a lot of things (while putting off my huge German history paper about the architecture of Ludwig II) but I've been having trouble posting things later because the site is being stupid. It should go away soon, but as a precaution I'll try to get my livejournal up and running again (it's under kbbandgirl) and I'll also throw cute hetalia stuff and Joe and George stuff on there, so check it out if you're ever really bored.

Reever hated spiders. He'd gotten a bit on his neck, but nothing fatal or even mildly dangerous, and it itched. After a few days of scratching and rubbing, it almost resembled a lovebite or something. Not that it mattered; it was always under his clothes anyway.

Xxxx

Finally, the meeting was only a day away. Komui was excited about seeing his favorite blonde again. However, as time went on he was also becoming extremely anxious. What if Reever didn't want to see him? What if the rumors were true and Reever was seeing someone? What if he broke down and begged the Aussie to come back… back to HQ… back to him….

Xxxx

Reever was also nervous. It seemed inconceivable that the Supervisor could function without him, but he was. Maybe things had gotten better in his absence and everyone was happy. Maybe they had never needed him at all. Rachel seemed to sense his distress and offered to accompany him for emotional support.

Xxxx

Komui gave himself a once over in the mirror and fixed his hair, Reever would be arriving any minute and he had to look good.

He grabbed Bak and headed into the conference room, he didn't want to seem like he was waiting or anything.

Two minutes later the blonde walked in. He looked… healthy. He wasn't as pale and fatigued looking as he'd been before. His mental health also seemed to have improved and he was clean and sparkling from head to toe rather than rumpled. There weren't even bags under his eyes! He looked whole and almost happy.

But there was something in his eyes that spoke of profound sadness. He wanted to believe that it was because Reever missed him but he was not that arrogant. He knew that it was probably due to the burden of responsibility the Aussie was under now, knowing that countless lives depended on him.

"Reever."

His former subordinate nodded in acknowledgment but didn't meet his eyes.

Then a very pretty girl appeared out of nowhere and latched onto Reever's arm, the blonde smiled down at her.

Komui fought a wave of nausea as he felt his heart being wrenched out of him and shredded into a billion little pieces.

Xxxx

Reever was concerned. Komui looked like hell. Physically he was perfect, and handsome as always, but something was wrong. He seemed distinctly careworn and distant.

If only he'd been there. If he had, he would have taken care of whatever it was that haunted the Supervisor's eyes or at least distracted him for a while. Or would he?

Maybe Komui had always been that way and Reever hadn't noticed because that's just the way things were, or perhaps the change had happened too gradually to notice.

He was relieved when Rachel came to save him from his thoughts.

Everyone took his or her seat and the meeting began.

Xxxx

In truth, it was more a debriefing session than a meeting and Komui had already read the reports in question, so he spent his time studying Reever.

He missed him. He would gladly go back to the yelling and Ree hating him just to have the blonde by his side again.

It wasn't just for his own sake, though that was the primary reason, but for his sister as well. Lenalee missed Reever terribly, especially since when he was around she didn't have to worry about her brother's health or mental stability. Reever had been like a brother to her, or perhaps a brother-in-law since he and the Supervisor had fought like an old married couple.

Nothing was the same anymore. For the past six years Reever had been a constant presence in Komui's live and now that was gone. He couldn't wake up every day (or whenever he managed to sleep) and be greeted by the blonde's adorable (and usually grumpy) face.

Reever had yelled at him and tortured him with work sure, but he was just doing his job. He had also taken care of him, bringing coffee and putting in more than his fair share of work to make Komui's life easier.

The choice wasn't his to make. Reever had moved on. The blonde was happy and probably in love. Wasn't that what Komui had always wanted? Even so, he had always figured he'd be part of the equation but instead he was part of the parcipitate.

As the gathering ended Reever stretched revealing a hickey on his neck. Komui barely reacted his brain was numb. He said his goodbyes and walked to his room robotically. Once there he locked himself in and wept bitterly.

A few hours later, after everyone had left, he collected himself and plastered on a false smile before heading back to his desk. It only made things worse, his office was where he and Reever had spent the most time together and just being in it hurt.

Xxxx

Reever headed back to the Oceania Branch. It wasn't his home, (which was wherever Komui was,) but it would have to do. He thought he'd seen Komui studying him but it was probably just his imagination. And for some reason he felt like he'd betrayed the Supervisor.

Xxxx

After that things took a definite turn for the worse. Komui wouldn't eat and was practically a walking zombie, even Lenalee had trouble making him smile for more than a few seconds.

Reever couldn't sleep and he'd caught up on all his work. A lot of the time he would just stare off into space. It had become clear to him that he didn't belong there, but he had made his decision and it was something he had to live with.

A/N: I won't leave them in limbo forever. Things begin to get resolved in the next chapter.

Reviews are made of love.

I'm going to start writing Hetalia fics (mostly K and T rated one shots inspired by all my foreign coworkers), no worries the DGM stuff will come first, anyway I was wondering what pairings you guys support. Let me know and I'll try to throw some of that in/ write those out first.


	10. Chapter 10

And then one day Komui collapsed.

Russell called Reever to let him know. The blonde wanted, more than anything, to run over to headquarters and make sure the supervisor was alright, but he didn't think he had the right to. At least, not after the way he had abandoned him. He didn't know what was wrong with the man, but he felt that if he had been at Komui's side, where he was meant to be, that he could have prevented it from happening.

Luckily, Lenalee was there to intervene. He'd spent hours pacing and making himself sick with worry before she called. She claimed that she wanted him there to support her emotionally, and although it would be a help, they both knew that it was mainly an excuse to force him to come.

Xxxx

"How is he?" It was the first thing that came out of Reever's mouth when he finally got to HQ.

Lenalee was the one who answered."Not good. It isn't life threatening but I'm really worried about him. He mostly stares blankly at a wall or sleeps, and then he has nightmares."

"Oh… Can I see him?"

She nodded silently and led the way. Once they got to the Supervisor's room she peaked inside.

"He's sleeping now but you should go sit with him."

"Are you sure?"

She nodded. "He'll be happy to see you. I promise."

Reever took up the chair in the corner and Lenalee went to get ready for her next mission, confident that if anyone could fix her brother it was Reever.

He watched over Komui for more than an hour, relieved that the supervisor seemed to be resting peacefully.

Then the nightmares began. The supervisor started to thrash about and… call his name.

"Reever? ….Reever!"

"Shhhhh, I'm here."

He sat on the bed and took one of Komui's hands in his own. It seemed to calm him down a little. Reever didn't understand why Komui had been calling out for him, but he had to admit that it made him happy.

Xxxx

Komui had been sleeping for a very long time. At first Reever had been attentive to every little shift or change in breathing, but after six hours he was having trouble staying awake. It had been ages since he had slept properly. And Komui, the root of all his anxiety, was right beside him resting peacefully, and what's more they were holding hands.

Though he fought valiantly to stay awake it wasn't long before Reever drifted off into the best sleep he had had in a long time.

Xxxx

Komui had never wanted to wake up again, but he had to, at least for his sister's sake. Then something shifted next to him and his eyes flew open.

Reever!

Reever was there! Right next to him. He flung himself onto the unconscious man crying tears of joy.

A/N: Thing are finally looking up for Komui and Reever, but they aren't exactly out of the woods yet.

Reviews are made of love! (and will hopefully help kick my muse out of her lemon writing slump)


	11. Chapter 11

A/N: Life has been pretty hectic lately. Going from medicine to international business is a difficult transition, as is going from engaged to single (long story), but as soon as I find a decent job related to my new field I'll be able to update a lot more frequently (in the meantime I'm working at a fabric and craft store and loving it).

A sudden and acute feeling of suffocation woke Reever up. He was shocked to find Komui's tear streaked face just inches away from him. The supervisor seemed thrilled to see him which confused the blonde.

Xxxx

Komui was so happy! Reever was back!... his smile started to fall as the more rational parts of his brain kicked in. Was Reever back? It couldn't be true. Why would Reever give up something so important just to return to someone he didn't even love? Even if he was back there was still the fact that the Aussie was seeing that woman. Even if he broke up with her, he had already made it clear that he wasn't interested in a romantic relationship with Komui.

He shook his head to dislodge all the negative thoughts, Reever was here now. That was the only thing that mattered. If he wasn't careful he would scare the blonde away and that was the last thing he wanted.

The sharp change in Komui's mood surprised Reever. "What's wrong?"

Those words probably hurt Komui more than anything. The genuine look of concern coupled with fact Reever had no idea how much he cared for him sent a knife straight through Komui's heart. He wanted so badly to say something, anything, to bring Reever back, but the Aussie was finally happy. He should be glad, even at the sacrifice of his own happiness, but he wasn't. He was jealous of that stupid girl and wondered why he hadn't been good enough.

Xxxx

Reever watched the emotions flit across Komui's face and sighed. He still doubted that the Supervisor could ever return his feelings, but it was clear that he had been missed. Maybe that would be enough? For now anyway. He had already waited for six years, a few more wouldn't kill him.

Xxxx

Suddenly Reever was hugging him, "If you wanted me to stay you should have said so."

"But I did!"

"I know, I'm sorry."

"Come back?"

Reever nodded wordlessly, and cringed slightly as Komui returned the hug with bone crushing force.

Xxxx

Minutes passed. Komui was perfectly content, but Reever was getting a bit uncomfortable.

It was becoming more difficult his brain to deal with things rationally. In Komui's mind they were nothing more than friends (weren't they?). But his delusional mind wanted the actions to be something more, even if he would only get hurt again.

Xxxx

For his part, Komui was satisfied to have the blonde back for now, but was anticipating some heavy duty wooing in the future.

The Supervisor yawned, deciding not fight he laid down, got a firm grip on one of the blonde's hands, and drifted off.

Xxxx

Xxxx

When he woke up Reever was gone.

A/N: One more chapter to go! Um, I'm not sure if this is going to earn its M-rating, we'll see.


	12. Chapter 12

Komui's first thought was that it had all been a dream, but he knew that it couldn't be true. Reever must have come to his senses and left. It was the only explanation. After all, the blonde had finally gotten the recognition he deserved, why would he throw that away for someone who drove him around the bend?

But Reever couldn't leave again, he wouldn't allow it. Komui stared up at the ceiling emotional exhausted and contemplated kidnapping the Aussie, or blackmailing into staying. He didn't care if he got in trouble for it, as long as the blonde didn't end up hating him. He could give that horrible girl a potion to make her uninterested in men, and then steal Reever from her clutches… but it didn't seem right. Even so he couldn't stand them having a long distance relationship. Reever was his, dammit! …even if the blonde didn't realize it yet.

That was part of why HQ's science department was almost entirely male. Anytime a cute girl would get interested in Ree, the supervisor would quietly transfer her to another branch (with a promotion).

Xxxx

Out in the main part of the science department, Reever was being swarmed by his old (and unbeknownst to them future) coworkers. He was anxious to return to Komui's side, but figured that he needn't hurry because he was probably still sleeping. It was nice to see everyone again, and hearing about how much they had missed him made him even more glad to be home. He didn't tell them that though, he needed to talk to central before he could say anything for sure.

Xxxx

A week. Reever had to wait a week before stepping down so that they could find a replacement. Central was not pleased with him, but they dealt with it since Komui's productivity had suffered massively in the past months and was becoming a major issue.

Reever could last another week, but if he saw Komui's face he might not be able to leave.

He knew it was cowardly, but he went to the cafeteria and asked Jerry to deliver the message in his place.

Xxxx

Komui was still plotting when the door to his room opened. He bolted up, hoping to see Reever. He sighed dejectedly when it was only Jerry with a huge tray of his favorite foods.

"Reever will be back. He's resigning at the end of the week, will you give him his old job back?"

Xxxx (6 days later)

Komui couldn't sit still. The announcement had only been made public two days ago, but everyone had guessed it was coming.

Komui was never letting the blonde out of his sights again. Reever's main desk had been moved into the far corner of the supervisor's office so that the blonde would be close without feeling smothered. Komui had even tidied up the office (mostly shoving paper into closets).

Xxxx

Reever was anxious too. He was glad to be going home but he had to be super diligent to make sure his current branch wasn't left in the lurch. However, Peck was a suitable replacement, and he was confident that he'd do a good job.

Reever really wanted to know why Komui had been so desperate to get him back, it was almost like… no, it couldn't be. If he had been wise, he would have confessed his feelings before resigning. If Komui didn't return them, he could have kept his job at the Oceania branch until he got over it.

But he hadn't thought of it. He had no idea what Komui thought of him. It was scary. He knew he should talk to Lenalee, but he didn't know how to broach the subject and wasn't looking forward to that conversation.


	13. Chapter 13

A/N: Only one more chapter to go! After this just the lemon is left, but I have pneumonia at the moment so my attempts at smut are pathetic right now, so the lemony last chapter will be posted as soon as I recover enough to get it written.

It felt so good to be back where he belonged. Reever had cried a little at the banquet when everyone who he had spoken to had said, "welcome home." He had never felt so wanted, needed even. As someone who'd always felt a little underappreciated, it was almost too much.

At the same time though, it almost seemed inconceivable that HQ had made it almost six months without him. And yet quite a bit had changed: there were new faces in the science department; a new leader of the chemistry sub-division; and most importantly, a certain pair of exorcists had finally gotten together. However, the biggest change of all, as far as he was concerned, was that he had Komui's almost undivided attention. The poor blonde was always being poked, prodded, scrutinized, loomed-over, gleefully addressed, or even hugged. If it carried on for much longer his head might explode from blushing too much.

Komui wasn't running off constantly like before either, he never even tried to escape. Instead ha would do as much paper work as he could stand and then waste as much time as he could without leaving the office (by "arranging" the piles of paper work, sorting things by importance, or looking through reference books).

Reever couldn't help but wonder why Komui was paying so much attention to him, almost to the point of suffocation, not that he actually minded. It meant that Komui had missed him, which was definitely a good thing, but it also meant that he was getting his hopes up. After all, it must just be that Komui had been bored before and he knew that if he slacked off too much the Aussie was liable to leave again.

What really worried Reever was that, just before she had left on a long mission, Lenalee had told him rather ominously that she wanted to talk with him when she got back. That meant one of two things: 1) Komui was a hopeless case and he should just give up, or 2) there was a super small chance but it might take another decade or so. Reever wasn't sure which he would prefer.

Xxxx

Komui was so happy that Reever was back! Still he had to be careful not to freak the blonde out, which was the only reason Ko hadn't jumped him yet. He couldn't stand to lose Reever again. He'd loved him for years but he had only recently realized just how much he needed him. It frightened him, especially since Reever seemed to be fine on his own.

Of course, he wouldn't have been able to persuade Reever to come back if the blonde hadn't missed him at least a little. Even so, he still didn't know the blonde's motivations. Komui resolved to find them out, and so, long after making blue prints and perfecting the design in his head, Komui snuck away to create a robot that would reveal Reever's feelings.

Xxxx

Reever saw the him sneak out, but he didn't say anything. He was a lot more sympathetic to the supervisor's plight now and thought that he had earned a break. He'd go catch him once he had finished some experiments he had been meaning to do.

Xxxx

Komui wanted to cry. Reever wasn't looking for him! It was so mean! Maybe the blonde was glad to be rid of him for a while?... He couldn't help but remember Reever's face after they had kissed… maybe that was the problem. Now that Reever knew about his emotions, he might be a little wary. He still didn't know how Reever felt about him. It wasn't fair! But hopefully his robot would fix that.

Xxx

Reever was starting to get nervous, Komui had been gone for quite a while and ominous noises were pouring out of his experiment rooms. That was never good. He went to war Kanda and Allen (the only exorcists present) about the impending danger.

Xxxx

Twenty-one minutes later Komui was bawling like a baby. His perfect robot had been hacked to pieces as soon as he had gotten it out the door. How on earth could he find out what Reever thought about him now? He was almost inconsolable.

But then it was okay because Reever hugged him! Yeah it was a pity hug, but it still counted dammit! Reever even rubbed his back a little!

"There, there. It was for your own good. Unless you want to make Lenalee mad at you…"

"No," Komui blubbered, "but… that robot," he sniffed, "it was going to tell me something important."

Reever tilted his head inquisitively, "And what might that be?"

Without thinking Komui blurted out, "It was going to tell me what sort of feelings you have for me."

"What?"

Komui realized what he had said, and since he couldn't take it back his brain went on holiday as his heart decided to go for broke, "I love you!" he exclaimed still crying, "I always have and I was miserable when you left, but I don't want to push my feelings on to you and have you hate me!"

"So you made a robot?" Reever asked, too stunned to grasp the situation.

"I didn't want to scare you away but I couldn't help wondering… I swear I won't do anything to you against your will so please don't leave again!"

Komui looked like he was going to start hyperventilating. So Reever, blushing like a tomato, leaned over and… well he gave him a super quick kiss that in his nervousness ended up being half mouth, half cheek before pulling away and starring at the wall like that hadn't just happened.

Komui blinked at him.

TBC…


End file.
